Yraelia
by Thobbit
Summary: Megarra, granddaughter of Nick and Lirael, writes a report for school on a town in the Old Kingdom, giving us a general idea of what happened in the forty or so years after Abhorsen. Random fun. Read, enjoy, and review! Please review; I'm desperate.


Wyverley Elementery

A Town Near Me

**Assignment:**

Write a short, one-page report on a town near you. Try to pick a town that you are not very familiar with, though you may have visited once or twice. Some things you must include are . . .

• Where the town is located. Can you find it on a map?

• How big is the town? How much ground does it cover; how many people live there?

• Are there any interesting stories about this town? If so, what are they? Do you believe them?

• When was this town founded, and why? By who?

• What sort of person lives in this town?

• Is this town famous for something in particular? If so, what?

The **rough draft** will be due on **Friday, April 19th**.

The _final draft_, in _pen_, will be due on _Tuesday, April 23rd_.

Have fun writing, and don't hesitate to ask me or the other teachers for help! We will be taking a class trip to the library next Monday, to find books with information on local towns. Good luck! -Ms. Pendall

Megarra Sayre

Year 4

April 16, 1969

Yraelia

Yraelia is a biggish town about two-thirds of the up into the Old Kingdom from Ancelstierre. It is between a large forrest and the fork where the Yanyl River meets the western tributary of the Ratterlin. Auntie _**Queen**_ Ellimere founded it in 1867 for Southerner refugees who wanted to move to the Old Kingdom, and who could survive there. Lots of people thought that no Southerners would be able to understand and live with all the Charter magic and Dead things, but many moved north anyways. To help encourage refugees to come live in the Old Kingdom, Gramma _**Abhorsen **_Lirael and Uncle _**Prince**_ Sam_**eth**_ personally traveled all over the kingdom, finding the best places for people to live, that were the most defencable against the Dead. Yraelia is super good for this, because it is surrounded by running water on to sides. Some people who already lived in the Old Kingdom were angry that the settlers got especially chosen good spots, but Great-Uncle Touchstone calmed them all down, and suggested they just move to the good spots, too. Many did, and the new towns are still getting bigger.

All of the Southerner towns are still growing, but Yraelia is special because it is the biggest of them all. Right now, it has nearly 1,000 citizens already, and it has only been around for twenty-eight years! The main reason for this is that Yraelia is never troubled by the Dead. NEVER. As in, since it was founded, no Abhorsen has EVER been called for or at all needed, even for a couple of Dead Hands, or a Gore Crow or two. NEVER. I don't know why Papa even knows it exists, but he was the one who suggested it for my report, so I guess he does. Some people think this is because of how good the location is, with the two rivers right nearby, but most people think it is because of the second-most famous thing about the town, after the no-Dead-awesomeness. You see, Yraelia has a tradition that isn't done anywhere else in the Old KIngdom. Supposedly, it was started by the very first wave of settlers who came there, and even suggested to them by Great-Aunt _**Abhorsen Queen**_Sabriel. Whenever anybody in Yraelia goes fishing, no matter what they catch, they have to take the largest fish and put in by their back door, preferable next to a bowl or glass of milk. They leave it overnight, and in the morning, both the milk and fish will be gone, without a trace, no matter how perfect the tracking conditions are. Sometimes, you can taste the tang of Free Magic in the air, though. The only clues to this mystery are that sometimes in the evening, you can see a white cat with bright green eyes and no collar roaming the town, as if he owns the place. That's how cats normally act, of course, but this is different because people have been seeing this cat for the past twenty-eight years, ever since Yraelia was founded, and cats don't live that long. Also, shortly before Great-Aunt _**Abhorsen Queen**_ Sabriel died, (after Great-Uncle _**King**_ Touchstone passed through the Ninth Gate and Auntie _**Queen**_ Ellimere took the throne,) it is rumored that she took a trip to the woods near Yraelia, just for an afternoon. Nobody knows why, but supposedly she came home looking all peaceful and pleased. _**{**_I asked Papa about it, because he was the one who suggested I do this report on Yraelia, and so might know something, he told me I should ask Gramma Lirael. But when I asked her, she just smiled mysteriously at Grandpa Nick and told me I should wait a few years, then try to worm it out of Allie! That made me think it's Abhorsen business, because Papa and Gramma Lirael are/were both Abhorsen, and both clearly know something, and Allie (my sister, Aliel,) is the Abhorsen-in-waiting. (I'm a Wallmaker, like Uncle Sam.)_**}**_

So that is the mystery of Yraelia, and maybe someday I'll find out what's really going on. Meanwhile, I'm going to Woodshop.

_**Megarra—**_

_** This was quite good, for a rough draft. It started out very neatly and informative, and you did a good job building the tension with that story. However, you have a distinct problem throughout; the mixing of your report and your personal life. Interesting as it is, I'm afraid the reader doesn't really need to know that you are going to Woodshop. And when one is writing a report, it is proper to use the formal titles of those to whom you refer, even if you are related. I corrected this wherever I saw it, and it must be re-written. Along the same lines, you need to redo everything between those two brackets. It was very well-done research, but instead of all that, you should try something along the lines of, "When asked for confirmation, neither Abhorsen Lirael nor Abhorsen Edward were willing to comment." As always, your spelling and grammar are pristine, though 'defencable' is not a word. What you are trying to say is 'defendable', I believe. Keep up the good work, but remember: Charter bloodlines do not a writer make! (But I'm sure you'll be a fine Wallmaker some day.)**_

_**-Ms. Pendall**_


End file.
